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“He’s right. Darren shouldn’t be following you around, Emma,” he tells me, before facing Banner. “Please tell me you knocked the fucker out for me. If I ever lay eyes on him, I’m gonna kill him.”
“Babe, calm down. Emma doesn’t need to hear this,” Levi says smoothly, coaxing him away from the door like he’s afraid Mark will escape and do what he promised. Kill Darren.
“Guys, please,” I beg.
“I laid one on him, yeah. He’s lucky that’s all I did. I think we should still mention it to your lawyer. If something happens, we might need to have this on file.”
“Please, Banner, can we just drop it. I’m cold, hungry, and just want you guys around me.”
His expression softens as he joins me on the sofa. His cold body warms up to mine. The loon didn’t even bother pulling on a coat when he raced out of here to find me. I want to reprimand him for being careless, but what he did was also incredibly sweet.
“Okay. Mark was gonna cook chicken fajitas, so why don’t we eat that, kick some arse on Call of Duty, then watch a movie in bed?”
“Sounds like a plan,” I tell him, forcing a smile. “And thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You’re never going to have to find out,” he whispers.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The café Milly asked me to join her at is dead when I meet her on Friday evening. The place is completely deserted. Scanning the room, I find her sitting in a booth at the back, facing the door. Which is something I always do.
When she notices me walking towards her, a smile lights up her beautiful face. She stands to greet me, moving out of the booth.
“Emma. It’s lovely to meet you in person,” she says. “Here, you take a seat while I order us some drinks. What would you like?”
Since I’m too nervous, I opt not to have coffee. “Can I have a hot chocolate, please?”
“Of course. Won’t be a second,” she says, before walking elegantly over to the counter.
While she’s busy ordering, I take the time to look her over. She looks younger than she did when we booked our appointment over Skype. She’s not dressed like my old therapist, either. Instead of a suit, she’s dressed in jeans and a woolly jumper. It makes me feel at ease. It’s also refreshing not to be in an office, enclosed within four walls. I don’t feel like I’m in a prison here; I can leave at any time.
I don’t know what today will entail, whether she wants me to fill her in on more of what happened to me or not, or if this is just an introduction.
Even though there is no one here but the waitress and a cook, I still don’t feel comfortable talking so openly about what happened to me.
Milly walks back over, sitting the steaming cup of hot chocolate down in front of me. “Here you go, lovely.”
I fidget in my seat, unsure of what to do or say. I finally decide to wait for her to lead, and then see what happens from there.
“First of all, I want you to know you don’t have to talk to me about anything you don’t want to. I won’t push you into something you aren’t ready for either. Don’t think of me as a therapist while you’re with me. You can talk to me like I’m your friend, but know, whatever is shared between the both of us, will go no further. Are you okay with that?”
“I am.”
“Super. I like to get that part out of the way, otherwise we might just sit here and stare into our cups. And although that would be fine with me, you are coming to me for a reason.”
I love her bluntness, it’s refreshing. She keeps her voice soft, making me feel at ease.
“How are you finding it here in Whithall?” she asks, taking a sip of her drink, like we’re old friends.
“I like living with my cousin, Mark, and his boyfriend, Levi. I also have a friend named Banner. He’s showed me around some, but mostly to restaurants to try out his favourite foods.”
She smiles, and I relax in my seat. “Sounds like my kind of friend. Where has he taken you that you’ve liked the best?”
I don’t even have to think about it. Our time spent with Lake and Max had been my favourite place. “Fun ‘N Cups. My friends came to visit me from out of town and we went there. The food was great, but I think I preferred the company more.”
“What do you mean?”
I look around the empty room, chewing my bottom lip. “Even though this place is empty, I still feel kind of tense. When we were at Fun ‘N Cups, I got so lost in the three of them that I forgot where I even was. It was nice and relaxing.”